Electrophotographic machines, such as, for example, copiers and printers, produce images by forming a latent image charge pattern on a photoconductive surface. The photoconductive surface carries the latent image through a developing station wherein pigmented toner particles are drawn by electrostatic attraction onto the latent image charge pattern on the photoconductive surface. An electric field is applied to transfer the image from the photoconductive surface onto either an intermediate transfer member or an image substrate, such as, for example, a piece of paper. Thereafter, the image is fixed, such as, for example, by fusing, to the image substrate.
In some electrophotographic machines, the photoconductive surface may be disposed upon an endless-loop belt. In other electrophotographic machines, the photoconductive surface is disposed on a cylindrical roller or drum, variously referred to as the image cylinder, photoconductive drum or photoconductive roller. Generally, the photoconductive drum includes an inner roller or mandrel over which a photoconductive sleeve is disposed. The mandrel is typically constructed of aluminum. The photoconductive sleeve is typically constructed from a metal substrate, such as, for example, nickel, onto which a photoconductive layer is applied.
Typically, the photoconductive sleeve is mounted to the inner roller or mandrel by an air mounting process, as is more particularly described hereinafter. Generally, the air mounting process is very sensitive to the surface characteristics of the inside surface of the photoconductive sleeve. A photoconductive sleeve having a relatively rough inside surface is difficult to air mount or may be incompatible with the air mounting process, whereas a photoconductive sleeve having a relatively smooth inside surface is compatible with the process of air mounting and is relatively easy to air mount.
However, several of the manufacturing processes used to produce the photoconductive sleeve, including, for example, the nickel plating process, the surface of the mandrel used in the plating process, the grain structure of the plated nickel, the acid etching process by which the nickel surface is cleaned, and other manufacturing processes, cause the inside surface of the photoconductive sleeve to be undesirably if not unacceptably rough for use in an air mounting process. Since it is the inside surface of the photoconductive sleeve that must be machined or smoothed, the use of conventional processes such as, for example, grinding or polishing, may be somewhat labor intensive, time consuming, and costly.
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a photoconductive sleeve for a photoconductive roller that is compatible with an air mounting process, and a method of manufacturing same.